How to Recover Deleted Word Documents

Microsoft Word is a well-known application across the global community. We all use it to type just anything. Students use it for preparing their assignments. Businesses use it for presentations, letterheads, and so on. The possibilities associated with Word application are countless. However, it is difficult to rely entirely on a computer for safeguarding their preservation. It is evident that power outages, corrupted operating system, accidental deletion, and other reasons lead to the loss of the data. It is here that a data recovery tool comes handy. The current article provides information on various resources that are helpful on how to recover deleted word documents.

Part 1: The All in One Method to Recover Deleted Word Documents

Many recovery solutions you can find contain limitations, which make it impossible for users to recover all the deleted files from a computer. It is here that you will find iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac (or iSkysoft Data Recovery for Windows) as the all-in-one solution for recovery deleted word documents. The application uses a robust algorithm, which is capable of penetrating deep into the hard disk of the computer and retrieve all the deleted files with ease. Furthermore, the program offers four different recovery methods, which makes it comfortable and profitable for the user in identifying documents and recovers the same.

Ability to start and pause scan, which a user can continue after a while

Allows you to save the scan result for future use

Preview functionality lets users look for the content before extracting

Allows for a full quality check of the recoverable data

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Deleted Word Documents

Step 1. Visit the iSkysoft official website to download the Data Recovery program for your Mac. It offers the version for both Windows and Mac operating systems. After downloading the file, proceed with the installation by the instructions displayed on the screen by the program. Launch the software after finishing the installation. The 6 different file type options offered by the application appear on the main interface of the program. You will have to choose one or more types and click "Next" button.

Step 2. Then you need to select the location where you delete the word document, click the "Start" button, the program will display all the files according to the signatures rather than file names or folder names.

Step 3. The scanning time is higher for this recovery mode. Therefore, it is important for you to be patient. It may take additional time due to the presence of the data on the selected drive. After completion of the scan, iSkysoft Data Recovery will display the recoverable contents in the preview window. You can choose a file to see the preview of the content and decide whether the file is important or not.

You will notice a cluster of records available within the window. You have to go through the preview to see the content and mark those files for recovery. Continue with the process, and once you have checked all the necessary files, click the "Recover" button at the bottom of the window.

The Data Recovery program will then pop-up a message asking you to choose the destination for saving the selected files. It is advisable to use an external device as the saving location to ensure that there is no loss of the recovery data. Additionally, the process is useful when you have a corrupted hard disk or operating system. After selecting the path, wait for the program to complete the recovery process. The time consumed is dependent on the size of the recovery data. Wait until the process is complete before you can browse the saving location to see the recovered content.

Part 2: How to Recover Deleted Word Documents 2010

Even if you delete a file accidentally, it does not wipe away completely from the computer. There are still traces of the file left behind somewhere on the hard disk. If records have disappeared recently, and you have not added any other files, the chances are that you can recover them with ease with the following steps.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Deleted Word Document

Step 1. Click the "Start" button on your Windows PC, and navigate to the "Search" option.

Step 2. In the search entry box, enter the name of the document (if you remember). If you do not remember the title of the document, then you can just enter *.doc or *.docx and press enter to allow Windows to search for all the documents ending with the entered file format.

Step 3. If you could not find the file from the search results posted by Windows, then you can search your Recycle Bin to see if there are files located in the bin. If you are lucky, you may find the deleted document. Simply double-click the icon of recycle bin on the desktop to check the files present in the folder.

If you were unlucky in finding the document from Recycle Bin, then you have an addition option to check the backup file folder created by Word application. The process is only useful if you have already enabled the backup option in Word settings. First, open the Microsoft Word application and click the "File" tab. From the menu bar opening under the "File" tab, click "Open" folder option.

Step 4. Word will open the folder where you have saved the file lastly. You can then search for the backup copy of the document that you are seeking. You can then enter *.wbk into the Windows search box if you fail in searching for a particular file. Windows will display all the backup files. You can even browse the backup file folder, which you can access by entering the options tab in Word application.

Step 5. The options screen opens up, where you have to choose "Save" from the left pane of the window. Now, towards the right side you will notice the data about the "Save" feature, from this screen, click the Browse button to open the backup file folder. If you are lucky, you will find a backup of the document in this folder.

If you could not yet locate the deleted word document, then you can try for the Word's Auto Recover tool. The recovery tool is only openable if the computer shuts down automatically without any notice while you were working on the Word document. When you restart the computer and open the Word application the next time, you will see the Auto Recover window appearing to the left section of the screen.

Step 6. If you are unable to see the window, then you can search for the files manually. Under the "File" tab of the Word document, choose "Recent" feature. From the new pop-up screen, select "Recover Unsaved Documents" option. Windows will then allow you to browse for the file from the folder. If you do not find the option, then you can search the computer using *.asd files in the Windows search box.

Part 3: How to Recover Deleted Word Documents 2013

If you are busy pounding your way to recovering deleted word documents from your Microsoft Word 2013 application, then you are at the right place. It is frustrating enough to learn about the data loss or documents, which one spends a lot of time in creation. You do not have to fear any longer, as Word 2013 gives you the opportunity to recover the unsaved or deleted files with ease. Just follow the steps below!

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Deleted Word Document

Step 1. Open Word 2013 document, and from the menu bar, choose "File" tab. When the sub-menu under the "File" tab opens, choose "Info" from the left pane of the window as displayed in the picture below.

Step 2. Under the "Info" tab, you will notice several options towards the right side of the screen. From these options, choose "Manage Versions" feature. Under the "Manage Versions" tab, you will notice that you have the chance to look for unsaved documents, which you can also delete using the other option, "Delete all unsaved documents".

Step 3. Upon choosing recover, unsaved documents, Word 2013 will try to attempt to open the folder where it stores all the saved documents. You can go through the list of the documents displayed by the program. You can then search for the document/documents that you want to recover. Once you find the file, press the "Open" button at the bottom to open the file. Word 2013 will display a message stating that it recovered an unsaved file and stored temporarily on the computer. You can press the "Save as" button appearing at the bottom of the file to save the document to a folder on the computer hard drive.

Part 4: How to Recover Deleted Word Documents 2016

Word 2016 is the updated version of the successful Word application from Microsoft. There is a possibility for people to recover unsaved or deleted files using the application. However, there is no guarantee that it extracts or stores all the data. Nonetheless, it is still worth trying to search for deleted documents.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Deleted Word Document

Step 1. Open the Word 2016 application and select a blank document. From the window, press the "File" tab, and the menu, choose "Recent" feature.

Step 2. Once the file location opens, you can check the "Recover Unsaved Documents" at the bottom of the window to allow the program to begin the search for the documents. After the application completes the search, it will open the folder where you will see various unsaved documents. You can then begin searching for the document that you are in need of or type in the title of the document to look for its presence directly.

Step 3. Choose the file and press the "Open" button to allow the word to open the unsaved file. Upon opening the document, you will notice that Word prompts a message stating that you have to save the unsaved document. Press the "Save" button appearing next to the message to save the file to a folder on your computer hard drive. As it is an unsaved document, it does not have a file name. Therefore, you have to repeat the process for the files within the folder and then check for the content to ensure that you are in possession of the right documents.